I’ve had this Ikea lamp, with a paper shade, since University I think, so nearly a decade. It hasn’t travelled well, and the shade was pretty ripped up; I’d patched it before but it became too flimsy irreparable. Stupidly, I threw the shade away when I was having a fairly brutal cull after I moved! Then I found out Ikea doesn’t sell the shade separately to the base, and I realised I’d have to make one if I wanted it to be functional again – and realised the wire loops from the broken shade would have been incredibly useful!

Today I decided I’d make a new shade (and change the plug, as it still had a New Zealand plug on it).

Materials:

– one roll of ‘tracing paper’ (thick – not greaseproof paper)

– one wire hanger, and part of a wire hanger leftover from a previous project

– leaf skeletons

– tape

– PVA glue

– pliers with cutter (to bend and cut the hanger)

I made the body of the shade from tracing paper, scavenged from a cupboard clear out at work a couple of years ago. This took a 150cm by 88cm piece, and I doubled it up to make it a little more opaque (the insides of the lamp aren’t particularly attractive!).

The shade needed some kind of hanger to attach it to the top of the base – I made a loop, around 85cm circumference, to fit inside the folded top of the length of paper. I folded the top down and taped it in place. Then I got an offcut of hanger, twisted a loop in the middle of it, and (for the moment) bluetac-ed the hanger to the loop on either side of the shade while I think of a more permanent solution. The shade is taped down the back where the roll of paper joins. I think what’s great about the shade is that it’s neutral and it could easily be painted or decorated to change the appearance.

I found a few leaf skeletons in a box of crafty things which I attached with a tiny dab of PVA glue, to add a little interest.

It’s not the most professional or tidy thing I’ve made but it is now an inoffensive working lamp! It’s got 3 x 5W energy saving bulbs in it and casts a lovely soft light to supplement the pendant light in the lounge (my craft corner is otherwise a little dark).